Sunday, April 29, 2012

CHELSEA SIGNS WERDER BREMEN MIDFIELDER MARKO MARIN

Werder
Bremen chairman Klaus Allofs confirmed Marin would be moving to
Stamford Bridge next season on a five-year deal having passed a medical.

Reports in Germany suggested that Chelsea's
Belgian forward, Romelu Lukaku, would be joining the Bundesliga outfit
as part of the deal, but Allofs moved to deny the rumours.

Marin is a leftsided player and likely
to be a direct replacement for Salomon Kalou, who is out of contract in
the summer and expected to leave, and Florent Malouda, who is out of
favour.

Marin was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and moved to Germany when he was two years old. He has grown up in the
German system and played 15 times for his country.

Marin has endured a mixed season at
Bremen, where he has scored just once in 22 appearances and has been
played out of position in central midfield and been injured.

Marin is a gifted winger, who in his
earlier years was dubbed as the "German Messi." That comparison was
proven premature, but the 23-year-old's strengths and weaknesses more
resemble those of Angel Di Maria.

Marin is a very talented dribbler, but
stagnated after joining Bremen in 2009. He has primarily been used out
of position as a central playmaker, where his dribbling qualities are
less noticeable and his underwhelming playmaking vision is evident.

He
needs a fresh start, and perhaps he will flourish when used once more on
the wing. It is, however, a great gamble for the player, who could find
himself on the bench for five years. For Chelsea, €7-8 million is worth
the risk.